Tag: Relief

As someone who now resides in and calls Kansas City home, the Kelvin Herrera trade to the Washington Nationals has dominated the MLB blog-sphere as well as the local Kansas City media scene. And understandably so: the Royals are one of the worst teams in baseball, and Herrera was one of the last and more memorable holdovers from the 2015 World Series Champion team. (I mean, who can forget the “HDH” combo of Herrera, Davis, and Holland holding down the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, respectively?) And though he has battled inconsistency as HDH slowly grew apart since the Championship run, Herrera has been, for the most part, a bright spot, especially for a pitching staff that has been so god-awfully putrid (they rank last in MLB in ERA).

But let’s be honest here: the Royals needed to trade Herrera, and the deal was about as good as they probably could have gotten for him, even if it was way before the trade deadline (which is July 31st for those who don’t know this shit…like 90 percent of Americans until the day of…it’s kind of like voting in that way). Considering Herrera is going to be free agent, and the Royals’ history of trade-able players getting hurt before the deadline (cough…Luke Hochevar…cough), the Royals at least got something in return for Herrera to help them build a depleted farm system (they rank last by most major publications when it comes to Minor League systems).

Now, I know some people argue that the Royals got too little for Herrera. Yes, they got three players, but neither of the players in the deal come highly heralded, many arguing that they are journeyman players at best. That being said, they aren’t total scrubs by any measure as Kelvin Gutierrez and Blake Perkins were ranked in the Top 10 of the Nationals system according to Fangraphs going into this year, and Yohanse Morel is only 17 years old. It’s not a “Zach Greinke” package, sure, but then again Herrera isn’t a starting pitcher like Greinke, who had probably 10 times the value Herrera did when the former Royals ace was on the market. To think that a spotty closer will generate as much in return as a former Cy Young winner is absolutely preposterous.

And let’s judge how much impact Herrera will have on the Nationals. First off, Herrera most likely will go back to setup status, as the Nationals would be crazy to demote current closer Sean Doolittle, who has had a tremendous year. Doolittle not only has more saves than the former Royals closer (18 to 14), but the lefty dwarfs Herrera in K/9 (12.62 to 7.71), FIP (1.62 to 2.62), K/BB (14.33 to 11.00) and swinging strike percentage (19.1 to 14.4 percent). Yes, Herrera makes the Nationals bullpen much stronger. Yes, Herrera becomes a nice little stopgap should Doolittle run into trouble against a string of right-handed hitters. But Herrera isn’t taking Doolittle job’s anytime soon, and three prospects for a half-season of an over-qualified setup guy (but probably under-qualified closer) is more than good enough for this Royals team. If anybody should be pissed at all from this trade, it’s fantasy owners who have Herrera in leagues that don’t count holds as a scoring category (luckily, my leagues does…phew).

Rarely are their “winners” and “losers” realistically in a trade. Teams trade because they have a surplus of something, and they have a deficit in another area. The Nationals’ bullpen has been shaky outside of Doolittle and they are in a tight race with the Phillies and Braves in the NL East Division. The Royals are in last place in the AL Central, have no shot of being competitive this year, and need to rebuild a farm system that has either graduated most of their top prospects in the past or seen them fizzle out into oblivion (here’s looking at you, Kyle Zimmerman and Bubba Starling). Both the Nationals and Royals got exactly what they want.

So stop filling up the 810 phone lines Royals fans. Yes, I get it. Losing Herrera makes you nostalgic for once better days. But the Royals got decent prospects with decent upside and let a likable player go and be in a better situation for the remainder of the year until he becomes a free agent.

This trade simply was the “MLB Business Life” in a nutshell. Nothing shady or crazy about it, especially in this case. So let’s get over it, Kansas City, okay?

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